Are schools doing the right things to involve parents?
If you haven’t already, you will soon read about the fact that many state legislatures are providing funds to provide teachers with bonus’ who involve parents during the school year. While this idea has real merit as far as children’s achievement is concerned, the laws passed by these states only require parents to come to “back to school n.... read more

Mob Mentality: Reverse it and Use Peer Influence in a Positive Way
--Greece, New York, A recent article posted by CNN reports about a 68-year-old school bus monitor being verbally abused and harassed by middle schoolers from Greece, New York. Video recorded by a camera phone and later posted online shows students using vulgar language, insults about her weight and income level, taunts, and even p.... read more

New PTA Movement
We recently presented at the Utah state PTA Convention. We met many great, dedicated people who really want to make a difference in education. PTA representatives we spoke with were inquisitive, thoughtful, and were sincerely investigating ways they can help teachers and improve student achievement. This hasn't necessarily always been the case, however. This isn't to say that P.... read more

A recent survey completed by MetLife shows that teacher satisfaction is lower than it has been in 20 years. The economic influence plays a very significant role in this perception: reduction in social and health programs, layoffs (66% polled have witnessed layoffs in their area), 76% have seen budget cuts, while needs appear to be increasing. Class size has increased as reported by 63% of those su.... read more

How to Really Improve Classroom Achievement--Teaching is a most respected endeavor, though not always treated as such, and teachers do work extremely hard. Spend a few minutes trying to get the few kids in your own family on the same page and you can begin to relate just a little to what a tremendous undertaking it is for a teacher working to wrangle and organize 20 or maybe even 30 students wit.... read more